Tangled Noodles
by Orange23
Summary: Iruka is doubting his influence as a teacher. His mind keeps wondering what he could have done to help Sasuke. One night, Iruka is startled by a dream, what he doesn't know is he has awoken to a very terrifying nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

The feeling of being small and vulnerable. That's how it felt each and every day for Iruka. He'd pull his knees to his chest and held himself tight. Thinking if he held on enough he could stay in one piece but the pressure only shattered him more. He felt the darkness consume him many times. It was so lonely and painful. Shaking the shadows off took so much energy out of him. He wanted to sink, drifting away into the darkness.

Eyes wide open, Iruka gripped his bed sheets. He turned onto his side and curled into a ball. It was just a dream. He sat up and wiped his forehead. Sticky and moist strands of hair clung to the nape of his neck. Iruka felt a dull ache. He was dreaming of his youthful self. All alone and it wasn't any different now. That realization hit him. He clenched at his chest, waiting for the pain to pass over.

He pushed himself out of bed, noticing the 3:17 am displayed on his digital clock. The ticking coming from the kitchen clock was a lonely noise, the only other sound within the house besides himself. A crescent moon seemed to give him a knowing smile of his pain. Iruka rubbed his eyes and poured himself a cup of water. The water was clear and cold, just what he needed. He poured himself a second cup and wandered around his small kitchen. The dish rack held one clean plate, bowl and chopstick. Iruka sighed and gulped down his water.

Heavy minded, Iruka set his cup harshly on the table. He wished Naruto was here. One of his few joys was seeing Naruto around. Now the young man never stops,even to give a small look at Iruka, constantly running off to find Sasuke. Iruka wonder if he had tried harder to reach out for the dark minded kid, would things have been different?

"Iruka Sensei."

Startled, he grabbed the chopsticks, ready to stab the intruder. Iruka froze, "It's you. What are you doing here s-"

A cold hand illuminated by the light from the moon, it quickly covered the man's mouth. It struck like a snake striking for its prey. "I'm home."

Iruka's eyes widen as two red orbs swirled. He shut his eyes and pulled at the hand who gripped his face. With such a strong grip, it was hard to breathe.

"I won't be caught by the idiot, Naruto."

The voice trickled into his right ear. A cold hand slithered up to Iruka's neck while the other one that had clamped his mouth and nose tight, two fingers forced their way between his teeth. Now that he could breathe through his nose the idea to bite didn't sound so bad, maybe a punch to the face. He could handle that.

"Bite and I'll rip your lower jaw." The hand tightened.

Iruka dropped a sweat, not what he had expected. He continued to keep his eyes close. Surely it was all a dream, a guilty dream of not being able to help Sasuke. Sasuke seemed fond of him enough back at the academy. A little know it all but always willing to participate, quietly working. Often giving him no acknowledgement but when turning in an assignment...Iruka realized he never noticed the boy's pain at all.

The two fingers nudged themselves in. Cold and slim, they slowly entered.

Now wasn't a good time to reminisce, he could lose his life if he moved a single inch.

The fingers were cold and tasted, thank god, clean. Iruka gagged as he struggled to pull at both wrists. He assessed the situation. He was backed up against the fridge, possibly going to choke. Naruto would be so heartbroken to find his dead sensei. Iruka felt bad that the only way Naruto would notice him was if he died under the hand of Sasuke. That's right. Sasuke Uchiha.

"Guh-ah-mph!" Iruka opened his eyes. Dream or not he'd better find a way out of this situation. The eyes were red, burning and drilling into him. Why was he here? Was this the end for Iruka Sensei? What would happen to the kids, friends and Naruto?

"Hmph. No one will care. Nobody in this village does. When you're gone, they'll soon forget about you." A slight pause, the tilt of the head to consider Iruka's eyes, "Maybe except Naruto. He'll never forget you. He loves you very much. I know."

Surprised at his words, Iruka wondered if Sasuke still has a heart to notice love. From the current situation, it seemed he might be a bit confused by the idea of love. Iruka was definitely wondering about the fingers. The hand on his neck was more of his concern. Sasuke felt strong, Iruka better weasel his way out of this. Calming down, Iruka gripped on to the wrists and stared right into those blood-red eyes, challenging him to go ahead and kill him. Maybe if he used his Teacher look, it could pull some soft emotion Sasuke had towards him as a mentor, even if it was just a little. Iruka had made sure he applied himself everywhere when his student needed him, if he remembers correctly.

"Do you think that making a face would work on me?" The face pulled in close."Disgusting." Sasuke focused on the soft lips and pearly teeth.

Iruka notices the death eyes looking at his saliva, pooling out. It wasn't his fault, with two fingers in someone's mouth; it's bound to happen. Okay. Those hands really needed to get out. Iruka took the moment of distraction, giving a swift kick to the gut and surprisingly it pained him to kick a former student.

There were no cries of pain, just a small kick across the room. He hoped he hadn't hurt him. Coughing and spitting, Iruka was glad to get out of that awkward situation, if anything, his mouth was the deadly area. Now, he could talk some sense-

"Is that all?"

A figure stood beside Iruka. Eyes widen. It ended quick. It felt fast and slow at the same time. A quick look in those eyes and it went black. He didn't even feel his head hit the ground. The quiet words of forgiveness faded in and out of his mind. Smiling kids and comrades would soon forget him, and Iruka was okay with that. Naruto will be okay, and he'll find a way to cope. Sasuke will continue with his reign of terror.


	2. Chapter 2

The morning light streamed from the cave's jagged opening. Iruka noticed the rough and pebble strewn floor he laid upon. Aware of his sudden misplacement, he stood up and reached for his knife. But, he wasn't geared up and felt no weapon on his person. He scolded himself as he stood there, Iruka decided the best plan would be to just walk out.

He had on his black Konoha shirt and pants. Grateful it wasn't the weekend, his weekend attire consisted of a old shirt and short. Iruka always slept in his konoha shirt and pants on school nights to bed. Now, today was a school day and there was no Iruka Sensei in the village. That thought made his stomach flip flop. They must have a search party by now.

Iruka sensei heard the heavy thunk of metal hitting wood. Slightly pissed about being kidnapped by a student, yet glad to be alive. Perhaps there must be a reason why he was still here. A sense of fear ran through the man's body. The image of Sasuke's desire to kill was vivid but Iruka soften at the thought of guiding this troubled youth.

A shuriken flew past Iruka's left ear, nicking a strand of Brown hair. A voice called out, sounding cold and bored.

"Finally, you're awake. You sleep like the dead, just like Naruto."

"Sasuke-kun." Iruka stepped out and raised his hand to protect his eye from the sun. It was noon already. Had he slept that long? How far was he from the village?

Sasuke was continuing to throw his weapons at a tree. Embedding scars and wounds deeper into the bark. The teacher was looking at him, observing and analyzing. Iruka Sensei won't be going anywhere soon and the search party was no where near to catching their scent. Keeping him would be an easy task. When he was done with him, he can move on with his other victims.

"Sasuke…" Iruka wondered what to say. Take me home? Are you going to kill me? What is going on?!

Nothing came to mind and so he became silent. He watch Sasuke throw the shurikens. A sudden tug at his heart opened his waterworks. It was a memory back at the academy that surfaced to the top. Warm drops of saline streamed down past his scar. Iruka had missed his chance to change a student's life and it pained him to realize it all now. It was no use crying but it was important to him. Sasuke was important to him. So was Naruto. But couldn't he had helped Sasuke. Why.

The thud stopped and the small clearing in front of their hideout was silent. Sasuke put his weapons away and crossed his arms. He hadn't turned around to look at the teacher or talk to him. So troublesome. He'll kill Iruka Sensei soon.

"You're going to die."

Iruka looked down, tears wetting his cheeks, not sure why he was crying, "Well, I had a feeling." Iruka said sadly. "But if you wanted me dead, I would be," He wipes his face. His hand held no weapon of any kind. He was still hoping Sasuke would release him. Why would he be still standing if the intent had been to kill him. Could this be punishment and a chance to redeem himself? Iruka pondered this, he wanted to help Sasuke.

Another kunai flew, "Save your tears." Sasuke didn't want to hear the acceptance in the words at the moment. He needed to get this over with. Why had he not just killed him back at the apartment? Right, he remembered, it was to take the sensei, torture him and leave him for dead. Giving Konoha a good chase. At the moment, Sasuke knew the teacher is hoping for some mercy. It was true, Sasuke should've killed him...but he needed to go on with the chase. To put Naruto in a frenzy.

"Sasuke...we need to get home. Come back to the village. Talk it out with Naruto and everyone." Iruka approached the young man. The older man felt his heart pain to see the changes in Sasuke. He sure grew up. Iruka placed his hand upon the hard looking shoulder. He could give it a try and if it doesn't work-

Sasuke gripped the hand and roughly yanked it off his shoulder.

Well, it was more of a toss across towards the tree. The one Sasuke had been using as a target practice. Iruka impacted with the tree, his right side instantly pained. He wouldn't consider himself old but looking at Sasuke one handedly fling him made he him crinkle like an old man.

"Get up old man," Sasuke pulled out a shuriken.

Iruka grit his teeth, "I'm not that old." He grimaced in pain, sitting up against the tree, he had no weapon. He's not prepared! He would truly fall off the face of the earth if Sasuke tried to kill him now.

A kunai landed above Iruka's head, it embedded deeply into the bark. His only chances were to hide and dodge all attacks. It was strange, he felt he should be dead but Sasuke keeps delaying. What's his motive?

"Sasuke! Don't do it. Whatever you're thinking, what do you gain from killing me?" He hate to admit it but he didn't hold much importance, "If you think, they'll send everyone to find me-"

"Why do you doubt yourself? I expected more from Naruto's favorite mentor." Sasuke had crossed the distance between them and landed an agonizing blow to Iruka's stomach. "Afterall, Naruto doesn't know when to give up."

Iruka was silent, he felt like throwing up, he looked to Sasuke, the teenager never once let any trace of emotion cross his face. It was so solid, empty. None of his words were reaching him. "Naruto, he's foolish and stubborn but he has a good heart. He'll forgive you." He said this weakly. "I was also too foolish and stubborn to see your pain, Sasuke."

"I know." Sasuke stood up, he looked at his former academy teacher who was trying very hard not to curl up and die. The brown hair were in disarray. Sasuke watched the pain cross his victim's face and the eyes still shown with forgiveness. The scar across his face was so familiar, he often looked at it when he was in the academy.

"Then, come back home-" Iruka didn't finish, he heaved up whatever was in his stomach onto his shirt. HIs vision was blurring and it all went black.

Now that those eyes had fallen shut, he held the jaw of the unconscious sensei's face, "Because, killing you would make me unforgivable." Sasuke said, "You're highly important to that idiot. You once were to me too."


End file.
